US congressional leaders have told President George W Bush they need more evidence to support the claim that Iraq presents an immediate threat to the country.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle told NBC television's Todayprogramme that their first closed-door briefing with Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld this week was only a start.
"Some of our questions were answered but there are a lot more out there that need to be addressed before we can make any conclusive decision on what needs to be done," Sen Daschle said.
Mr Daschle, Minority Leader Sen Trent Lott, House of Representatives Speaker Rep Dennis Hastert, and House Minority Leader Rep Dick Gephardt appeared on morning news shows before joining colleagues for a special joint session of Congress in New York marking the anniversary of the September 11th attacks.
Mr Gephardt and Mr Hastert told CNN that yesterday's briefing presented some new information but did not fundamentally change the threatening picture they already had of the situation.
"We know that they have weapons of mass destruction. . . . We need to make that case to the American people and to our friends and allies around the world," Hastert told NBC. "The bottom line is that we have to have this debate".